Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa's all-time receptions leader Kevonte Martin-Manley joins the show to talk life, football, and the Earn the 5th mentality

Episode Date: April 15, 2019

The all-time receptions leader in Iowa football history Kevonte Martin-Manley joins the podcast to talk about a variety of topics including Hawkeye football and the Two-star, Earn the 5th mentality and what that means for him personally and professionally,.  Kevonte also announced a special promotion on the show for all of you Hawkeye fans! For $20, you can get 10 autographed pictures or $50 for 1 autographed football. Both come with a fully customized message. Could be a pretty awesome piece to your memorabilia collection.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are listening to the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering the Iowa Hawkeyes for the Locked On Sports Network, hosted by Andrew Wade, editor at DearOldGold.com. Welcome to another episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Wade, editor over at DearOldGold.com, and we have a great interview that we're going to be sharing with you today. I had the opportunity to speak with Iowa's all-time reception leader, Kevontae Martin-Manley, and we had a great conversation about a ton of things. First, we talked a lot about life. We talked a lot about football. And mostly throughout the conversation, the theme kept arising, that two-star, earn-the-fifth

mentality that Kevontae really embodies in both his professional and his personal life. So I want to be able to share that with you. It was a great conversation with him. I think you're going to really love it, especially for you Iowa football fans. And stay tuned to the very end. Kevontae announces a pretty awesome deal he's doing as far as some autographed pictures and autographed footballs that I think a lot of you big fans out there will love to get your hands on. So stay tuned to the very end when he talks about that as well. Before we jump in though, if you are jumping on the show for the very first time, make sure you do check out some of our past episodes.

We've been giving out some really great content the past couple weeks. We've been talking to Matthew Crawford, the general manager of the Iowa United, the team that's combining all four of the major universities in the state of Iowa to compete in the basketball tournament, a $2 million winner-take-all tournament. So we've been talking to him quite a lot. We had some really, really awesome announcements earlier this weekend about Nicholas Bayer. So make sure to check out some of those interviews. We also had the opportunity to sit down with 2020 four-star quarterback recruit Deuce Hogan. He's going to be joining the Iowa Hawkeyes in roughly two years. And we talked to him about what it means to be an Iowa Hawkeye, what it means to already commit to the Iowa Hawkeyes and Kirk Ferentz and what his recruiting process was like.

And that was last Wednesday. And it was a really great episode. If you didn't get a chance to listen to it, check it out. That kid has a great head on his shoulders and I'm really excited to see what the future holds for Deuce Hogan. Also, if you haven't tuned into the show yet and you do like what you're hearing so far, if you love the intro, if you're excited to hear about Kevontae Martin Manley's life now and kind of what Iowa Hawkeyes have meant to him in his past, then make sure to subscribe

to our podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast at. And if you are not following us on Twitter or Facebook, please do so as well. You can follow us on Twitter at LockedOnIowa, and you can follow us on Facebook at LockedOnHawkeyes. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you can email me at LockedOnHawkeyes at gmail.com. That being said though, enough of me rambling. Let's get right into the interview with Kevontae Martin-Manley. All right, today we have a special guest joining us, the all-time receptions leader in Iowa Hawkeye history, former standout wide receiver and return man, Kevontae Martin-Manley. Kevontae, how are you doing today, buddy?

I appreciate you joining the show, man. Hey, for sure. Thank you for having me. I'm doing great. I'm in a great space right now and I'm just really excited. Just happy to see what the day brings. Absolutely, man. I've taken one day at a time. So tell me a little bit about what you're up to right now. Obviously, we're going to get into the Hawkeye football stuff a little bit later, but I want to get a good feel for kind of what you're doing today, what you're doing right now, and how you've been living. Yes, sir, man.

I've just been really busy fine-tuning the details with my brand, Two Star, and also working a job as a fitness consultant, doing memberships and things like that. So that's really been exciting. So just working that balance between working a fitness job and also working on my brand as well. Absolutely. And I know we talked a little bit before the show. I don't want to go into too many details on two-star clothing, but just real quickly, you know, you started this, I believe, back in college with Anthony Hitchens. Is that correct?

Yes, sir. Yep. Awesome. And to you, I mean, I kind of get the vibe of what two-star embodies, right? It's the idea of you need to work hard for that. You need, you know, you're coming from nothing. You're kicking doors down and working out and getting to idea of you need to work hard for that. You need, you know, you're, you're coming from nothing. You're kicking, you know, kicking doors down and, and working out and getting to the spot you need to go to. Is that kind of what two star means to you or what

is that, that meaning for you? For sure. You know, I, I like to say two star honors the confidence to overachieve. And, um, you know, so, so we're, we're often underrated. And it's just that acceptance, you know, it's just having the confidence to accept any given circumstance that you are mostly, you know, just the idea of being underrated and having the confidence to overachieve and to actually overachieve. And we call that earn a fifth, you know, which is the idea of your five star life. We call that earn a fifth, you know, which is the idea of your five-star life. So, you know, it ties into a really, really great concept that many people, you know, relate to. Many people, you know, many people have that mindset of having to work extra or, you know, just see their odds as opportunities, you know. So, you know, it's a really great branding idea that we came with. So just working on, you know, many of the kinks and just ready to take it to the next level. I love it, man.

That was a hell of an elevator speech. I started thinking about some of the, you know, some of the things that, you know, some of the opportunities or ideas where I've been kind of shot down and what I can do to kind of pick myself back up and how I've overcome different things. I think, obviously, you've had a really incredible story going from a two-star recruit out of Pontiac, Michigan. It sounds like you didn't have another offer from any other Big Ten schools. You had some interest from other Big Ten schools, but Iowa was kind of your only Power Five school offer. And you came in and obviously crushed it, left as the all-time leading receiver in terms of receptions.

You were 11th in receiving yards and 13th in touchdowns. What was that like for you after those four or five years to look back and say, that's what I accomplished, and to know that you can look back on that with so much pride and joy for what you had overcome to get to that point? Hey, man, thanks for that. That was a great way that you put it. It's an honor, you know, and that's why I really want to keep actually rated that or actually feel certain things that

I felt growing up from in Pontiac, Michigan or certain neighborhoods, not even certain neighborhoods, you know, just certain areas, certain people, certain mindsets, you know, it's you know, it's about just over overachieving certain things that you want to overcome, you know, and facing facing whatever it is, just head on and, and earning, earning what you want, rightfully so. And, and that's what I feel, you know, that's why when I started it, you know, it was, it was the idea just was sparked from, you know, wanting to reach, you wanted to use my platform, wanting to reach, wanting to use my platform, wanting to also make some money for myself, get another source of income, you know, which was needed at the time.

Yeah. And it's just, you know, it just translates from football to life and things like that. So it's just a full circle, you know, appreciation and motivation that I want to spread and send a message to people and just inspire and motivate people. I love it, man. I mean, I couldn't agree more. Yeah, I mean, that was a great response. I think from my standpoint, obviously, you know, it stems from football, right? You think of two-star, three-star, four-star, five-star recruits, but like you said, in life, it has so many other meanings as well.

You could have been the first person to go to college in your family. You could have been the first person to leave your hometown. I mean, there's so many applications to that as a meaning. I can definitely relate to that. So pretty awesome stuff. As far as you being obviously the two-star recruit, I see you posting a lot on Twitter, kind of earned that fifth to other people. I saw you did it for AJ Epinesa earlier. Wanted to touch on another wide receiver who I feel like kind of embodies that two-star mentality and wanted to get your thoughts on him. But what

are your thoughts on Nick Easley? For some context, he's from my hometown and obviously he's had to work his butt off to get to the point that he's at. And I think he's really benefited from obviously the Chris Doyle training program and, you know, the Iowa football program in general. But what are your thoughts on him as far as that two-star mentality? Man, I got a high respect for Nick. I actually met him in Iowa City before at the gas station. I just seen him randomly.

I approached him. I'm like, hey, man, I'm Kavante. He's like, yeah, I know who you are and everything. You know, and I told him just to keep going. I want to say it was after the Penn State game. And, you know, I just told him to keep going. And really, I respect from everything I know about him and have heard about him. You know, he's really a hard worker.

He's a leader um really confident guy and um you know he kind of reminds me of myself in a sense you know just the way um you know just the way i wanted to approach things you know a lot of things i heard it's like like similar similar attributes so i really want i really wish um nothing but success for him um you know going forward and and i'm definitely sure his hometown is for sure excited. And like you say, he embodies that mindset of just, you know, being underrated. You can say he's underrated, let's say small town, small town Iowa, you know, just working through the kinks, working through the kinks,

and just finding a way, sticking to it, believing in himself, and just finding a way to earn everything he wants. You know what I mean? Absolutely. And I loved how you said his hometown is probably pretty proud of him because, man, when I'm on Facebook, if there's an Iowa football game going on and Nick Easley does anything, I mean, he could have just ran a really nice route.

And I'm not trying to poke fun at my hometown, but my Facebook feed is just everything about Nick Easley at that point. Everyone is super excited. So the whole town can get behind him, and I love it like that. Sweet, man. Absolutely. It's about pride. It's about representing something and being proud and being motivated and inspired at the end of the day.

Absolutely. So for you, obviously the two-star recruiting, that obviously is a big motivation for you. Is there anything else that really motivates you to continually strive for excellence and the best, whether that was on the gridiron or off the field personally? Is there any other big motivating factors for you outside of having that chip on your shoulder

from being overlooked as a high school recruit? Yeah, man, I would say just personally. know it's with me it was sport which was really you know at that level and at that point it's really it's really a job you know um truthfully so you know other than that is you know me personally yeah i come from a place um or or just a circumstance in a situation, you know, just from when I was born and the love I was able to be around, you know. But just outer, even outer circumstances, you know, it's just tough on where I come from and the things that I've seen. and the things that I've seen and I represent and I'm speaking for many people, you know, that, that, that, um, would like to, to, to hear that here, there's, um, you know, said on this platform, especially for me, I'm coming from that place and, um, it definitely to start, um, earn the fifth. It's, uh, I want to be able to get this, uh, like a way so I can spread my personal message as well.

You know, not many people know, you know, details about my personal story per se, you know, just certain things on the surface. But I feel I have different things, different stories, different ideas that I can inspire, you know, a lot of people from many different demographics, where I'm from, where I've been, and, you know, where I'm headed. Yeah, man, I mean, have you ever thought of, and this is kind of getting off topic a little bit, but have you ever thought of going into some sort of, you know, public speaking or kind of like inspirational speaking, that kind of thing? Because I feel like, I mean, I know the brief pieces about your football background.

It sounds like there's so many more things personally as well. I mean, that is inspirational in itself, just the football piece. I can only imagine how inspirational some of the personal pieces are and what you kind of came from to get to the point you're at now. Have you ever thought about going into something like that, like a motivational speaker? Man, thanks again for that. You know, I actually have done that. I've been up to some high schools.

I worked as a youth counselor back in Cedar Rapids, actually. Okay. And, you know, it's just, yeah, it's definitely a great way for me to express myself. And it's been one of the ways that I see. Actually, I've spoken even in my my city of pontiac michigan too um at middle schools um and things like that so i definitely want to expand on uh on speaking to many different people and like you say spreading my story and some motivation and inspiration definitely i mean that stuff has such a huge

impact i remember we actually had tim dwight at our high school back when I was in high school, 15 years. Oh man, it's been a hot second since I was in high school. But we had Tim Dwight show up at our school and I still remember some of his stuff he was saying and what he kind of had to overcome as well, being a 5'8", 170 pound wide receiver. A little bit tough for him to overcome some of that adversity as well. So definitely those kind of messages really translate very long, and you can remember those things for a very long time, which I think is really cool. Absolutely, man. Cool. So I want to kind of shift our gears a little bit to Iowa football. Obviously, I think in terms of the two-star mentality,

you really couldn't have picked a better university for that two-star mentality. I feel like the Iowa Hawkeyes and Kirk Ferentz, you know, really embody that two-star mentality. They look for those players who have a chip on their shoulder. They look for those players who want to work to get to the next level. And you see that every single year when they consistently churn out NFL draft picks. I mean, look at this, you know, this year we have four NFL hopefuls who are early entrants, you know, and Anthony Nelson, Imani Hooker, Fenton Hawkinson. I mean, that is a huge credit to Kirk Ferentz and his program. Wanted to quickly touch with you on what was it like playing for Kirk Ferentz and what

was it like, you know, handling Chris Doyle? Is his strength and training program as great as it seems like it is based on the outside yes absolutely like the the mindset like literally the perfect the perfect words is earn the fifth you know because when when you get there it's like they even tell you all of the recruiting stars and all of you know all of that is everybody has an even slate. So basically, you know, if you say you are who you are, it's time to prove it. And you guys have to earn everything that you want, you know, and it starts from day one. The strength workouts, you know, Coach Doyle, I'd say you probably spend more time with him

than you do with your position coach. So from day one, you're there. As a freshman, you're getting there really early. The workouts are extremely challenging. The lifestyle alone is extremely challenging. Just having to get up at those early times and, you know, go put that work in. And, you know, you're in a new environment. You know, yeah, for sure, though, Coach Doyle and Coach Fierce,

the whole coaching staff, that whole program, you know, it's about working. The whole state, the whole state of Iowa, you know, it is just a mindset. And at that university, it's no different. That's the type of kids, the type of people that they want to represent there. Definitely. And this is a little bit off topic, but what was your least favorite workout from Chris Doyle? Do you have any specific days where you remember thinking, holy crap, I'm going to die if I have to do another rep of this?

holy crap I'm gonna die if I have to do another rep of this um I'll give you two examples of tough workouts um um let's say after a bowl game when we came back and and uh it was a really tough workout and you know the guys um a lot of guys had to be admitted, you know, for rap, though. That workout was very tough. I would say that one. And there was another time, I want to say before one of our bowl games, after practice, bowl prep is very tough. You got to think it's after a season.

It's almost like playoff college football, you know. think it's after a season. It's almost like playoff college football, you know? So it's after a season and we had to, we had conditioning after about, it was about 24, 24 runs or something like that. And it was on top of practice and that was really tough. We were just like talking amongst the guys. We're like, man, this is, this is real right now but yeah other than that you know it it's hard man it really is it's really tough it's really challenging and um when

you're done with that program um especially if you're able to graduate as a senior and and be able to get through the whole program you know it's a really accomplishing um feeling for sure absolutely and i think you'll hate to hear this but it sounds like you know k's a really accomplishing feeling for sure absolutely and I think you'll hate to hear this but it sounds like you know Kirk has kind of changed his ways and in terms of practice before bowl prep yeah it sounds like in the past he was a little bit harder on players and people were you know working a lot harder now he's kind of eased up a little bit and eased out the throttle so I'm assuming you're probably not overly excited about hearing that now that the the players these days get a little bit of an easier workload

before the bowl games. Hey, man, I just hope it pays off, you know, the best way possible. The guys feel good, you know, are feeling fast and feeling confident and they're having fun in those bowl games. I mean, they did this year. They kicked butt against Mississippi State. Were you watching that game at all? Yep, yep, yep.

I was able to catch that exactly, man. So if they're able to, you know, put up examples like that, it'll work, you know. Yeah, maybe it'll help the future classes not to deal with such a horrendous, you know, month of prep between the last regular season game and bowl prep. Oh, yeah, seriously. It's such an important time, you know, of prep between the last regular season game and bowl prep oh yeah seriously it's such an important time you know especially for seniors um you know certain guys that are preparing for the next level you know or or not even you know you just want to feel really good in that last game some guys that aren't that don't have any plans of playing on the next level you

know they want to go extremely hard and have fun, you know, and just want to be at their best, you know, in that last game. Makes sense. I mean, you want to give it everything you've got. If that's your last month, you want to make sure that you leave every single ounce of effort on the table. Right, yep, exactly. Well, man, there's a couple other things.

You know, you played with some pretty awesome players at Iowa during your days. Wanted to touch on a few of those, the first one being George Kittle. So I know he kind of briefly overlapped your time there. And just real quickly, did you think he was going to be that good? I mean, obviously being an all-pro tight end this year, I think surprised a few people. I mean, I think people realize that coming from Iowa, you're not going to get a ton of catches at the tight end position,

but they do produce very good tight ends. Did you realize he was going to be that good though, when you first met him? No, I didn't. Obviously. That's fair. I'll be honest,

you know, I didn't, I didn't see him having this season, you know, it was definitely, I didn't, I didn't see it, but it's not surprising.

You know, it's like, I wouldn't have before the season, I wouldn't have been like, hey, George is about to go for 1,000 yards. He's about to be pro and lead the league at the tight end position. But now looking back on it, it's not surprising. He's very talented.

He's very fast. And he's in a great system over there. So it all makes sense. Absolutely works for it man he goes hard and he's talented definitely and his uh his one of his quarterbacks over there at the 49ers cj bethard you know he he um obviously i think cj is pretty good he did pretty well and you know kyle shanahan system last year obviously the injury kind of hurt him and then nick mullen's emergence kind of hurt him even more. But you played with Bethard, and you played with Rudak as well.

And I was curious about that. From a wide receiver standpoint, obviously you were kind of the main guy while you were there. What was that like to be somewhat entrenched in the middle of a quarterback controversy? I say that. I know those words seem a little bit more dramatic than what it was. Rudak was really the starter for most of the season. Bethard kind of got a few snaps here and there. You know, what was that like, though, from your standpoint as a wide receiver?

Was it tough for you to game plan? No, honestly. You know, it was more of just being prepared, you know, doing our jobs. At the wide receiver position, you have to focus on what you need to do before you can worry about who's under center. The ball is on the snap count, so you can't really listen to voices. And so at the end of the day, it's just about making sure you get those reps in practice, get those extra reps in the offseason with both quarterbacks.

And, you know, we definitely was really good. We were great at that. We were always putting in time, putting in work, you know, before the season started, as well as getting reps with both quarterbacks in practice during the season. Makes sense. So basically, you know, you have two quarterbacks in practice during the season. Makes sense. So basically, you have two quarterbacks. You just got to do the extra prep work to make sure that you are on the same page with them because at the end of the day, it's on you if it's not, I guess.

Exactly. I want to touch a little bit on stuff that you did at Iowa. Obviously, you were the all-time leading receptions leader at Iowa. What was that like when you set that record? Did you realize that you were close? And I mean, I believe it was against Tennessee, correct? In the Tax Slayer Bowls when you actually set the record for 174 receptions in a career at Iowa. Do you remember what that feeling was like? Or do you kind of tell me a little bit about that

if you remember some of the more details about it? Oh absolutely um you know i realized i was close um to to being able to accomplish that goal um i say after my sophomore season um i had around 50 plus catches and i realized you know that that the record would be achievable and obtainable um so i just i wrote it down and, you know, I just put my mind to it, put my efforts to it, you know, put my thoughts to it. And, you know, just, yeah, it was really inspiring. And it was, it was something that really helped me finish my football career. You know, it really helped my life.

It was like one catch, you know, just by one catch. You know, it's really, man. Yeah, I mean, you're entrenched in the record books forever. I mean, your legacy will live on because of that. I mean, that's a really cool thing to be able to say you are the all-time receptions leader in such a storied program's history. Exactly, man.

It's just, it's extremely special, man. I'll be honest, you know. Yeah. You know, me thinking about it and just talking about it. You know, yeah, just like I say, I thought about it. And once I was able to get it, you know, my entire senior season, I wanted to finish. I knew I wanted to finish strong.

And I knew I wanted to reach that. And just like you say, man, I wanted to be beat for all of the hard work that I put in. I wanted it to pay off. And I felt and knew that that was, you know, the perfect way for it to pay off, you know, for my college career, you know, for me to be etched in the, you know, the history books. And I'm proud of it to this day.

And I definitely, you know, honor all the work that I put in and the people that helped me do it. And also myself, you know, I'm really proud of myself. And I, you you know want to just keep um staying focused and accomplish many more things I'm similar to that but yeah man it really felt good when I got it I knew I I knew I had it um I knew how many catches I needed going into the game you know just because I knew how big and how important it was a big 10 program like you say University of Iowa and it was my only offer as well in the big 10 um so you know it was, a Big Ten program, like you say, University of Iowa, and it was my only offer as well in the Big Ten.

So, you know, it was just huge for me and my family. No doubt. And, I mean, I think what people don't realize is that, yes, that one catch gave you the record, but you've been working for that for your whole life. You've put thousands of hours into getting to that one catch. And, you know, it's just a few seconds, but it's such an incredible experience that you can kind of look back on

with a lot of joy and pride. So pretty cool stuff. Absolutely. And you mentioned something about writing down your goal. And, you know, after your sophomore, you wrote down the goal of wanting to be that all-time receptions leader. I actually – it's funny you say that because have you ever – have you watched Hard Knocks before?

Or did you by chance watch this past year's Hard Knocks with the Browns? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I was watching Chris Kirksey. Yep the Browns? Oh, yeah. Absolutely, man. I was watching Chris Kirksey. Yep. One there for sure. Yep. That's the thing I'm thinking of is I remember him getting in front of the team and saying,

write your goals down, put those goals in a mirror, look at those goals every single day. And it kind of reminded me of that. Is that something that the Iowa football program teaches you to do? Or is that something that kind of as players you kind of just, I mean, you oversey's times a little bit a little bit but you know is that something that you all did as players or is it something that just happenstance that you both individually do that same process you know what man I'll just honor that you know through me personally I'll honor that through my life you know just having certain coaches um even before the high school level, or, you know,

just people around me that were able to tell me, hey, the importance of write your goals down, see it, and it'll help you manifest it. And I'm sure Chris was the same way. Chris is really big on, you know, just manifesting things, believing in things, speaking things into existence. And it was similar. So, you know, both of us going to the University of Iowa, our coaches as well, them there, I remember vividly Nate Kading gave us a speech and he told us, write your goals down, you know. And I remember Coach Campbell, Coach Eric Campbell, used to tell us all the time, write your goals down.

So, you know, just, I would say honor the people and the coaches around, you know, just growing up and my life that were able to just tell me, hey, it helps, you know, so that it's really been big on me, business, personally, you know, everything. I couldn't agree more. I follow a similar process. I don't specifically write them down. I put them in a Word document, but I, you know, typically reference that Word document about what my goals are for each year, each month, each week. Even each day I put together, here's the 10 things I'm going to accomplish.

And it makes it a lot easier to actually get through those things. When you put it on a list and you say, I'm going to do these things, then you can put action plans to it. So I 100% understand what you're saying, man. For sure, man. It helps you stay focused and confident. Yep. It's tough, especially, you know, I know you're a very busy guy. You have to be able to identify what's the priority in your situation,

every single situation. Absolutely. Well, man, I have one other question about your Iowa playing days. You were a really good return man. I mean, you set a couple, not records, but you hold some kind of places in history, I believe, back-to-back punt return for touchdowns, stuff like that. What do you think made you excel there? And then second part of that question is,

what do you like about Amir Smith-Marset's game as well? Because I think he's about to be one of the most prolific return men in Iowa history as well after this next year. Yeah, man, definitely salute to what he's doing at the return position, the kickoff return position specifically. He's doing a great job. Credit the guys up front blocking for him as well. And even just the credit coach, Ferris, as well.

And even just the, you know, you got to credit Coach Ferris as well. You know, he really puts an emphasis on the coaches to put on the players with special teams, you know. And it's really heavily emphasized. We really practice it a lot before, during, and after practice. Like, you know, before in the middle, in the beginning, middle, and end of practice, you know, we're working on special teams so um they really practice it and um you know my time there i'll kind of credit you know me playing baseball um growing up in middle school that was really um i'd say helpful in ball tracking um and coach campbell as well when coach campbell was there he really helped me

with certain certain techniques and certain confidence certain ways to read the football things like that so just really that repetition and practice being being consistent in practice with catching catching the football and once you do it you can just put your talents to work yeah man i the baseball thing i can absolutely relate to. I played baseball all growing up, and it's crazy how some people legitimately cannot track a fly ball.

It just surprises me every single time. And we would have people who played shortstop or second base, and the idea of putting them in the outfield was just absolutely abysmal because they couldn't track a ball. So that always made me very concerned and curious about how they were so good at shortstop or second base but couldn't actually track a fly ball. Man, great point.

Great point. It's definitely, I don't know, a skill or a trait. It's really something you have to practice and master. For sure. That was my last question about Iowa Hawkeye stuff. I have two other quick questions,

and I want to talk a little bit about some of the stuff you're doing right now, especially as we talked before the show with the footballs and the autographed pictures and whatnot. But socially, while you're in Iowa City, I mean, I was at Iowa City all the time. I'm actually a Drake alum, but my wife went to University of Iowa. My best friend went to University of Iowa. So I went to a ton of games, held season tickets, all that fun stuff,

and obviously got to experience the Iowa City nightlife a little bit. Wanted to hear from you. What was your favorite place to eat at in Iowa City and or drink at in Iowa City? I used to really love, let me see. Good question. That was kind of a curveball for you. You probably weren't ready for that one. Yeah, man, I'll give it to Shorts.

Okay. I'll give it to Shorts. They have some good burgers. Yeah, good burgers there. And favorite place, I'd say the most place we were at, you can catch us at, uh, Summit or Brothers. Absolutely. Yeah, Summit or Brothers was pretty cool for us.

Absolutely, man. I frequented both of those places quite often whenever I came and visited. Um, Brothers actually surprisingly has some decent wings. I didn't actually expect that, but their food is not bad if you just get there before everyone else does. Yeah, yeah, they do definitely have some good food. We used to go in there sometime, order something,

just, you know, during the week and not during their crazy hours. Just go in there, hang out, you know, play some pool or something. Absolutely, man. And last question, Megan Gustafson. I think she, out of anyone right now in the Iowa, an Iowa sports program in any program,

she kind of embodies that earn the fifth. And I wanted to get your thoughts on her. And obviously, did you get a chance to see that she was drafted by the Dallas Wings last night, actually? Just wanted to get your thoughts on her as a player and what she embodies in terms of the two-star, earn the fifth mentality. Oh, yeah, for sure. Congratulations to Megan.

I've definitely been following her career, and congrats to her. I did see that she got drafted. Man, that's amazing what she was able to do in her playing career. Man, it's amazing what she was able to do in her playing career. Man, it's just extremely honorable. And like you said, she'll forever be remembered. And Iowa fans will definitely be really talking about her for a long time and be proud of her and keep cheering her on at the next level. Yeah, I mean, it's already showing.

I watched the WNBA draft last night for the first time in my life. So I might even try to see if I can snag some tickets to a WNBA game if I'm in Vegas or whatever and she's there playing away. So yeah, I mean, it's pretty incredible the support that people are showing her and obviously showing the women's basketball team. I think a lot of people could really get behind what that team stood for, which is pretty awesome stuff. Exactly. Exactly.

Okay. I was just saying, yeah, you can tell in her interviews, you know, she's really, was really passionate about the work and the pride that she put in. And you can definitely tell that she's earned everything that she's got. Yeah, no doubt. I mean, have you seen her three ball Mike and drill? I mean, that was, I don't, I can barely make a layup, let alone with two balls in the hand and trying to catch the other one. So yeah, just incredible work effort. And I think, like I said, out of the women's basketball program, she really embodies that two star, you know, earn the fifth mentality. on the phone for quite some time. Like I said, I know you're a very busy guy. Wanted to quickly give you a

little bit of a platform and talk a little bit about some of the items that you're kind of allowing to Iowa football fans to buy. Some memorabilia opportunities for Iowa football fans. If you want to kind of talk about some of the promotional details of that.

For sure, man. I'm doing a great deal with Hawkeye supporters. For all those interested, 10 autographed photos are only $20 right now. And also an official Iowa football, which is only $50 right now. Autographs will include and commemorate all-time receptions leader. Include the number 174 on there, which is the record number, and also earn the fifth and any other personalization that you want included.

So, you know, if any Hawkeye fans are interested in autographed pictures or autographed football, I have a great deal on those right now. I can be reached on Instagram at KMM underscore 11, or I can be reached on Facebook at Kavante Martin Manley, as well as on Twitter, KMM underscore 11. So, yeah, please reach out, message me, or anything. I love it. And how can the folks pay you?

Is it Venmo, PayPal, that kind of thing? Yeah, anything works. I'm sure it will vary. But Cash App, PayPal would be preferred. Any other method, we can definitely discuss that. Yeah, you'll make it work. Well, I love that. I mean, like I said, I'll definitely be purchasing some stuff for you.

And in the future, we're going to have some promotional giveaways for our listeners on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, We're going to have some promotional giveaways for our listeners on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, courtesy of Kevontae Martin-Manley for providing some of that stuff that I'll be purchasing from you. So definitely appreciate that. I appreciate you jumping on the show, man. Obviously loved chatting with you today. Talked a lot about Iowa football. Talked a lot about kind of the mentality of the two-star earn the fifth,

something that I'm going to take to heart now. I haven't had a know, dig too much into that until obviously our conversation, but love it. Love what it stands for. Loves what it embodies. Is there anything else that you want to touch on before we end the show for today? No, you know what? That was great, man. I feel like I've said everything, you know, I wanted to.

You asked some great questions. You stated some great things and I'm inspired and motivated as well. And thank you for just the platform. Absolutely. I appreciate it. That was a great conclusion for me. I personally enjoyed that. That was a really nice way of saying,

thank you, Andrew. You did a great job. I appreciate that, man. No, absolutely, man. For just, no, seriously, you really did a great job. And yeah, we can definitely stay in touch for sure. Let me know whenever you're in a great job. And, yeah, we can definitely stay in touch, for sure.

Let me know whenever you're in Colorado. I'll show you some good breweries, buddy. All right, sweet, man. Will do. Have a great day, Kevontae. All right, you as well. Bye. All right, Locked On Hawkeyes fans,

was that not a fantastic interview with Kevontae Martin-Manley, the all-time receptions leader in Iowa football history. I personally really enjoyed how much he embodies that two-star, earn the fifth mentality. It doesn't just apply to football. It applies to every aspect of life. And I think there's a lot of ways you can apply that to your life. You know, the work hard, get where you want to go. You know, not everything is going to be handed to you and you need to work for some of those things, just like he did, especially on the gridiron and now in his personal life. So really loved that interview. If you enjoyed that interview, make sure to give us a thumbs up on, you know, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, make sure to like and subscribe. We're hoping to give you even

more of these awesome interviews coming your way here in the coming months. You know, especially with kind of the Hawkeye sports season kind of winding down over the next two months, we want to make sure we're giving you some great content that you can continue listening to on your morning or evening commute. Or if you're taking the dogs for a walk or however, and whenever you're listening to your podcast, we want to make sure that we are delivering fantastic content throughout the offseason of Hawkeye sports. So again, make sure to like and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast app. If you are on Twitter and Facebook, you can follow us on Twitter at LockedOnIowa.

And you can also follow us on Facebook at LockedOnHawkGuys. And if you love my voice, if you love my opinions, you can follow me at Wade underscore Andrew. That being said, though, we're hoping to have Kevontae back on another time. Obviously, enjoyed that conversation today. We're going to be doing some great promotional giveaways, including some of the awesome autograph stuff that he has. So if you aren't able to buy any of his pictures or his footballs, which I highly recommend you doing, he's fantastic to work with.

I actually have some pictures being sent my way now. But if you haven't had an opportunity to do that or don't have the means to do that right now, we are going to be doing some great promotional giveaways over the coming months. So stay tuned for that. We'll be announcing those details on our Facebook account, on our Twitter account, and on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. That being said, though, have a fantastic day, Hawkeye Nation, and we'll be back tomorrow. guitar solo you